No. 14 Louisville holds off Cincinnati

UL

Schimmel

CINCINNATI — Shoni Schimmel scored 16 points to lead No. 14 Louisville past Cincinnati 64-59 Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.

After trailing for much of the second half, Louisville (9-2, 1-0) tied the score at 55 with 2:37 left in the game and went ahead on Schimmel’s 3-pointer.

With less than a minute left, Bjonee Reaves’ jumper pulled Cincinnati (6-3, 0-1) within one, but Cardinals forward Shawnta’ Dyer responded quickly to give Louisville a three-point lead with 39 seconds remaining.

Becky Burke, who had 14 points for the Cardinals, made four free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.

Louisville beat Cincinnati for the third consecutive time and the ninth time in the last 11 meetings.

Reaves finished with 18 points for the Bearcats, who have now dropped their last three games.